BRICS should cooperate in taxation systems
January 18, 2013, 10:58 am

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India is calling for greater cooperation amongst the BRICS nations to rally for changes in international taxation systems.

India’s Finance Minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram was addressing the heads of the revenue departments of BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. India holds the chair of the group.

“India has been modernising its tax administration in a way that will minimise transaction costs and maximise taxpayer convenience, without compromising the deterrence factor,” he said.

He also emphasised on the need for greater cooperation among BRICS countries in the area of tax administration.

Chidambaram said it was necessary to hold deliberations to address issues of mutual interest.

This would help BRICS countries to play a more proactive role in modifying and developing existing international standards on international taxation and transfer pricing in order to safeguard their tax revenue interests, he said.

Addressing the participants, the finance minister further observed that during the last two or three decades, the global economy has been undergoing significant transformations, and BRICS countries have been at the centre of this economic change.

During the two day meeting, the participants are likely to deliberate on issues of mutual concerns related to tax administration including those relating to international taxation, transfer pricing, cross border tax evasion and avoidance, and tax dispute resolution mechanisms.

57 founding members, many of them prominent US allies, will sign into creation the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Monday, the first major global financial instrument independent from the Bretton Woods system.

Representatives of the countries will meet in Beijing on Monday to sign an agreement of the bank, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. All the five BRICS countries are also joining the new infrastructure investment bank.

The agreement on the $100 billion AIIB will then have to be ratified by the parliaments of the founding members, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily press briefing in Beijing.

The AIIB is also the first major multilateral development bank in a generation that provides an avenue for China to strengthen its presence in the world’s fastest-growing region.